The pipe handling apparatus of the present invention is useful in moving pipe laterally on a catwalk or pipe rack and loading such pipe into a pipe receiving trough of a pickup and laydown machine such as that illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,210. The pickup and laydown machine shown and described there employs a mast or pole which supports the upper end of the main support cable along which the pipe carrying trough moves. This mast is conventionally inserted in the mouse hole nearby the rotary in the rig floor. In those instances where the mouse hole is positioned to one side of the center line of the catwalk, the trough is positioned so that it is difficult to load the trough from the backside or the side on which the trough support arms are connected. It requires that each joint of pipe must be moved across the catwalk to the open or opposite side of the trough from the support arms to enable the pipe to be rolled into the trough to load it. The present invention alleviates this problem by providing an apparatus for quickly and easily moving the pipe laterally across the center line of the catwalk from one side to the other and for rolling the pipe back into the open side of the trough once it is positioned in the recess in the pipe handling apparatus.